Four years ago,  Janice Langbehn was denied access to her dying partner, Lisa Pond as she lay in a coma in a Florida hospital. Since then, Janice has fought, along with Lamda Legal, to make it easier for members of the LGBT community to have visitation rights in the event their partner is hospitalized. As a result of their efforts, the following regulation went into effect on January 15, 2011.

It is important to note that this law does not provide legal protection to partners of gays and lesbians should their partner arrive at the hospital in an incapacitated state unless the couple already has legal directives in place. Therefore it is critical to seek legal assistance and have advanced health care directives in place should you find yourself in the situation that Janice Langbehn did in June 2008. With the passage of this law, hospitals accepting Medicaire and Medicaid funding would be mandated to provide visitation rights to same-sex partners and their children whose family member is hospitalized.

Once again, this blogger would like to see Marriage Equality for members of the LGBT community so that it would make it unnecessary to have to fight for each civil right, one by one.

As many in our community are still reeling from the events on Saturday, we learn of the arrival of Fred Phelps and his daughter Shirley and their plans to protest at the funerals of the victims of this tragedy. And why would you protest a funeral?  A funeral is probably the most solemn event we attend in the course of our lives.

The Phelps and their followers at the Westboro Baptist Church make their way around the country protesting at the funerals of  American soldiers killed while in the service of this country and other high profile funerals. Why? Because “God Hates Fags”. In fact, their website domain name is www.godhatesfags.com . Patriotic Americans might want to question the use of an upside down American flag as the site’s browser bar symbol.

A funeral is no place for a protest. Emotions are still raw in Tucson. Six Tucsonans lost their lives,  and many  others are still recuperating from their injuries. There are also many in our community who, although were not physically injured in the shooting, are dealing with the psychological trauma that comes with such a heinous crime.

Although a law was drafted and passed in record time in our state which will keep these misguided people a minimum of 300 feet away from the funeral, they will still be close to the funerals of Christina Taylor-Green and John Roll. There are ways you can help support the families and friends who will be attending these funerals. Go to http://www.tucsonmemorial.org/documents/ChristinaGreene.pdf to learn more. You will find an organized effort to form a peaceful, human blockade to shield the protesters from their most insensitive act. And if you can’t attend yourself, you can donate to their cause.

Friday, January 14th Come out and bowl for fun and a cause. Support the Southern AZ Aids Foundation

http://www.saaf.org/tommy2011.php

Sunday, January 16th Women, join other Lesbians in Phoenix for the HRC community event. For only $15 you get a night of live music and an annual membership to the HRC.

http://www.hrc.org/herhrc/

Saturday, January 22nd, Tea Dance at the Coyote Moon 4-8 PM

Saturday, January 22nd and Sunday January 23rd, Come hear the Desert Voices in a fun 50′s night at the Pima College Center for the Arts

www.desertvoices.org  for more information, tickets can also be purchased at Antigone Books

If you’d like to publish an event of interest to the GLBT community please contact me rainbowramblings@gmail.com